For many years, bicycles have provided an efficient medium for transportation, exercise, recreation, and competition. It is well known that the staggering variety of existing bicycle saddles and seats has failed to provide total comfort and safety for riders, especially during prolonged periods on the seat and through long term use of a bicycle throughout a rider's lifetime. A poorly designed bicycle seat can cause serious and permanent damage in both men and women, more commonly in men. Saddle pressure on the two pudendal nerves in the crotch can cause genital numbness in both sexes and, over time, a standard saddle can cause damage to the arteries that supply blood to the crotch area, thereby causing sexual dysfunction, especially in men. Additionally, constant repositioning on an uncomfortable seat, a protracted bumpy ride, and/or bicycle-fall can cause damage directly to a male rider's scrotum.
The majority of existing saddles are generally configured in a triangular shape, having a narrow rear section—that further narrows to form a frontal saddle horn extending between the rider's legs. This seat configuration provides little support for the buttocks and the ischial bones which compels the body's weight to be substantially supported by the pubic bone, coccyx, and ischia. This phenomenon, unfortunately, can cause severe discomfort and potential impotency. While some prior art bicycle seats have attempted to minimize pressure applied to the ischial bones and pubic bone, and to redistribute this pressure over a larger, less sensitive area, no existing prior art specifically conforms to the contours of the male anatomy, effectively distributing a rider's weight throughout the cushioned areas of his pelvis and buttocks while simultaneously enclosing the scrotal region for affording protection from damage. No prior art bicycle seat has been found that combines these safety and comfort features with the additional combination of turning signals, braking lights, and reflective lights.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,218,090, Hoffacker et al. discloses a bicycle seat, focusing on the interaction between the body of the rider and the seat in an attempt to provide lasting comfort and fewer saddle sores. This was accomplished through the addition of two small regions of padding placed on the seat directly beneath the rider's ischial bones and included a small space between the regions to prevent the padding from bunching when compressed by the rider's buttocks. While such a seat may reduce pressure on the rider's ischial bones, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the presence of a saddle horn and the general shape of the seat can still apply uncomfortable pressure to the pubic bone, coccyx, and scrotum, thereby being likely to cause nerve and arterial damage leading to numbness and impotency.
In U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,340,192 and 5,524,961, Hsh and Howard, respectively, disclose bicycle seats similar in concept to Hoffacker's, seeking to reduce rider discomfort through the addition of padded material to seats possessing the standard shape. These seats also fail to address the possibility of uncomfortable pressure applied to the pubic bone, coccyx and scrotum and of nerve and arterial damage possibly leading to numbness and impotency.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,079,775, Lawson discloses a bicycle seat with no saddle-horn that seeks to permit an even weight-distribution on a rider's ischial bones. The seat possesses a frontal edge that allows a rider's legs and scrotum to hang freely, unhindered by the seat, while supporting the buttocks and ischial regions on a wide rear platform containing small depressions molded to fit the buttocks. Lawson also focuses on the position of the seat relative to a bicycle's handlebars and pedals. While this seat may reduce pressure on a rider's ischial bones and scrotum, it should be apparent that the frontal edge can apply uncomfortable pressure to the pubic bone of a rider and may cause nerve or arterial damage often associated with bicycle seats. Additionally, its molded depressions are shallow and may not effectively remove all uncomfortable pressure from a rider's ischial regions. Furthermore, the Lawson seat does not appear to protect against the possibility of scrotum injury through an impact or snag while freely hanging from the seat.
Similarly, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,938,278, Langevin discloses a bicycle seat with no saddle-horn, but possessing lateral plates to prevent sliding and support a rider's hips. These lateral plates are intended to allow a rider to control and orient a bicycle as a substitute for the control normally enabled by a saddle-horn. It should be apparent to one skilled in the art, however, that such a seat does little to reduce pressure on the ischial bones and that the front edge of the seat may apply uncomfortable pressure to a rider's pubic bone, coccyx, and scrotum, possibly causing nerve or arterial damage leading to numbness and impotency.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,113,184, Barnes discloses a bicycle seat possessing the standard shape in all respects except for the absence of a traditional saddle horn. The seat possesses two frontal projections with a central space, allowing a male rider's scrotum to hang freely, unfettered by the seat. While this seat may reduce uncomfortable pressure to a male rider's scrotal region, it should be apparent to one skilled in the art that its frontal projections and the front portion of the seat can apply pressure to the pubic bone and coccyx, thereby damaging nerves and arteries in the same fashion as many other bicycle seats. Additionally, the seat does little to reduce discomfort due to pressure on a rider's ischial bones. It should be apparent to one skilled in the art that allowing the scrotum to hang between the frontal projections of a seat increases the possibility of injury thereto through unintentional contact with the seat, catching the scrotum on the seat, and/or a fall.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,302,480 B1, Hall discloses a similar bicycle seat that lacks a saddle-horn and possesses a narrow center region to minimize contact between the seat and the central seating area of a rider's body. While this seat may reduce contact and pressure on a rider's pubic bone and coccyx, some contact between these regions and the seat still exists, thereby effectuating the potential for nerve and arterial damage. Additionally, it should be apparent to one skilled in the art that such a seat does not effectively remove all uncomfortable pressure from the ischial regions and does not adequately protect the scrotal region.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,074,002, Hansen discloses a bicycle seat consisting of a central support member and two side cushions positioned in a V-shape configuration to provide comfort and stability to a rider. Such a seat, lacking a saddle-horn, minimizes contact between a rider's pubic bone and coccyx and the seat. It attempts to reduce discomfort to the ischial region through use of padded cushions. However, it should be apparent to one skilled in the art that the seat fails to reduce direct uncomfortable pressure away from a rider's ischial bones, and that such a seat provides little protection against the unintentional jarring or impacting of a male rider's scrotum.
Thus, no bicycle seat in the prior art effectively and simultaneously reduces uncomfortable pressure from the lumbar region of the spine, the ischial bones, the pubic bone, and the coccyx, thereby preventing nerve, arterial, and scrotal damage and the possibility of genital numbness and impotence—while comfortably and safely redistributing the pressure to other areas of a rider's body particularly preventing the possibility of damage to a male rider's scrotal region.